The Tree in the Forest

Chapter Nineteen

                                     ~~~

  Karkat asked you on a date. You're a little upset that you weren't the one to ask, but you'd live. Besides, who turns down a date from that adorable little fucker? Not you, that's for sure.

  You gushed to Bro about how excited you were when you got home that day. He just laughed at you and said that you were being overly romantic and melodramatic. You didn't care.

  Karkat said that he wanted to go to the Spotts Park to do something. You didn't know what, though. That place is just a big field. Nonetheless, you were still excited about it.

  You stared at yourself in the mirror, wanting to look good for the date. It felt weird to be picking through your closet for clothes. You hadn't done that in years. You wanted something casual, but not too casual. God, you're nervous about screwing something up.

  You've never been on a date before, so this is a massive first. You're scared. You don't want to ruin anything. You want everything to go just as planned, even though you didn't have a plan.

  You chose to wear a t-shirt and some jeans. Karkat had seen you in those before and, as far as you knew, you were only going to the park.

  "Breathe, Dave. This guy's dating you. He loves you. You'll do just fine," You whispered to yourself in the mirror. It also felt strange to feel like you need to motivate yourself.

  You waved bye to Roxy and Bro, who were sitting on the couch, as you left. Roxy whooped a little and told you to have fun, which made your face go red in embarrassment.

  You walked all the way downstairs and walked straight out of the lobby doors. The evening was still young and your hope and confidence hadn't withered away entirely, so maybe you won't fuck this up.

  Karkat had told you to meet him there, but to wait for him on the sidewalk, so that's exactly what you did.

  You stood on the sidewalk, hoping that no one would give you shit for loitering or whatever. You just wanted to wait for your handsome little date. Is that too much to ask?

  You saw Karkat making his way up the sidewalk and waved him over. He smiled when he saw you and walked over to you quickly.

  "Hey, Dave," He said, kissing you on the cheek once more.

  "Hey, Karkat," You replied.

  "Okay, so I brought food with me because I'm a stingy piece of shit with no money for eating out, so come on," Karkat grabbed your hand, pulling you into the practically empty park. You just let him drag you to wherever he wanted to go.

  He brought you over to a spot right under some trees and sat down on the grass, pulling a backpack off of his shoulders. He pulled some stuff in Tupperware containers out of said backpack.

  You sat down right next to him, feeling your side just barely touching his as he handed you a fork and opened one of the containers.

  "I made some of this, but a lot of it was made by Porrim. She's way better at cooking than I am. And sorry about it being cold. It's all been in the refrigerator for a day or two. It's still good enough to eat, though," Karkat prattled on about things while you stabbed some of the food with your fork and ate it.

  You didn't know what you were eating, but it tasted good. You don't care what something is called as long as it doesn't make you want to die.

  Karkat leaned over onto your shoulder, eating from his own container. You were happy that he was eating since he had lost so much weight because of his lack of an appetite. You didn't want him to starve.